Device and method for introducing liquids into meat

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a device and a method for introducing liquids into meat containing bones and/or cartilage or connective tissue, e.g. in the slaughtered body of poultry as well as in legs and belly meat, in order to treat, season, and/or preserve said meat. The aim of the invention is to create a device and a method which make it possible to simultaneously introduce exactly defined, even very small quantities of water, brine, preservatives, seasoning liquids, and/or other liquids in a manner that is adapted to the anatomy of the body of the slaughtered animal, even into meat containing bones and/or cartilage or connective tissue, within a very short period of time on almost any conveying unit, even an existing one, and even on a slaughtering conveyor belt, without using any needle while being highly effective and highly reliable, having a robust structure, and providing minimal tolerance of the injected quantity. Said aim is achieved by a device for introducing liquids into meat, comprising a base frame ( 1 ). Said device is characterized by the fact that one or several machine frame/s ( 3 ) is/are arranged in a rigid manner or so as to he movable in a linear direction on the base frame ( 1 ) while one/several injection device/s ( 6 ) which is/are used for needle-free injection and is/are connected to one/several high pressure unit/s ( 4 ) via one/several liquid distribution system/s ( 5 ) is/are disposed on the machine frame/s ( 3 ), each injection device ( 6 ) comprising one or several nozzle pipe/s ( 7 ) on which one or several spray nozzle/s ( 8 ) is/are arranged and which is/are disposed on the machine frame ( 3 ) so as to be deliverable. The inventive method is characterized by the fact that each of the nozzle pipes ( 7 ) as well as one/several spray lance/s ( 6 ) can he separately impinged upon by an identical and/or different, precisely defined pressure that is applied to different liquids for identical and/or different, exactly defined periods of time.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Application No.102 58 905.4 filed on Dec. 17, 2002. Applicants also claim priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §365 of PCT/DE2003/004105 filed on Dec. 12, 2003. Theinternational application under PCT article 21 (2) was not published inEnglish.

The invention relates to a device and a method for introducing liquidsinto meat containing bones and/or cartilage or connective tissue, suchas, for example, into the slaughtered bodies of poultry, but also intolegs or, for example, belly meat, in order to treat, season and/orpreserve said meat.

In the state of the art, a device for injecting liquid into pieces ofmeat is described in DE 28 57 677 C 2. In the case of this device, thepieces of meat are penetrated by means of injection needles, and arepressed together by means of a hold-down device. The residual height ofthe hold-down device determines the injection amount, in each instance.

As one can imagine, this device is unsuitable for use in the case ofmeat from slaughtered animal bodies that contains bones. On the onehand, the pieces of meat are severely damaged by the injection needles.On the other hand, when the needles are pressed into the meat thatcontains bones, bone splintering, breakage of the needles, or cloggingof the needles can occur when the needles are pressed into the meat.Furthermore, as one can imagine, this device is also unsuitable for meatthat contains bones and has cavities, such as chicken, since either theliquid to be injected is sprayed out in the interior of the chicken,with high losses of brine, or the chickens are pressed together soseverely during the injection and are plastically deformed into a “flatchicken,” that they can no longer be sold.

Furthermore, it is by no means possible to adapt the injection amount tothe contour of the body, as in the case of poultry, for example, whenusing this device.

A method and a machine for injecting seasoning liquids into the meat ofslaughtered animal bodies, particularly chicken, are described in DE3209 730 A1, in which the animals are automatically brought to aninjection station, hanging by their legs, along a defined transportpath, whereby the seasoning liquid is introduced into the meat of theanimals by means of a procedure coupled with the transport of theanimals, as a function of the weight of the animals, in three differentamounts of liquid, by means of an injection needle.

Aside from the injection amount that can be varied only in three stages,as a function of the weight of the chicken, another disadvantage of thissolution is that a homogeneous distribution of the injection liquid isnot possible, since the body shape is left out of consideration in theinjection. The injection needle is always introduced only into thebreast region. With this solution, it is not possible to performinjections into the legs or into the back region.

Furthermore, for example when the injection needle is pushed into therib cage of the chicken, the injection needle can hit a bone. Thisnegatively influences the distribution of the injection liquid, and canfurthermore also result in pieces of bone that splinter off and remainin the meat.

As a result of the injection needles that are used as a necessary partof the process in the two aforementioned designs, clogging of themodules that carry the brine can occur, when sugar, proteins, and/orspices are used in the seasoning liquid, and this has a severelydetrimental effect on the processing process.

Furthermore, narrow limits are necessarily imposed on the viscosity ofthe seasoning liquid to be processed, particularly as a result of theline lengths, which are determined by the process, since among otherthings, the wall friction increases so greatly with an increasinginterior line pressure, at a high viscosity of the seasoning liquid,that the flow velocity can go down to zero under some circumstances.

Therefore it is not possible, using this needle injection described inthe state of the prior art, to introduce seasoning liquids and/or brinesinto the pieces of meat with a uniform distribution, so that theformation of deposits always occurs in the piece of meat, at first, inwhich the brine is accumulated.

This pickling brine, which at first is only deposited in the meat, mustthen be distributed in the treated pieces of meat over a very longperiod of time, by means of massaging machines or jogging machinesand/or rest phases.

Furthermore, the needles not only cause damage to the animal body, ineach instance, but because they are repeatedly pushed into thesubsequent animal, in each instance, they can also result incontamination.

Practical situations also show that the volume tolerance to beguaranteed, of the amount of liquid to be injected with needles, cannotbe assured on an individual piece below 5% of the raw weight, since thechannel caused in the piece of meat by needles has the effect that brinethat has already been injected can exit again in undefined manner.

Furthermore, in the state of the art, a device for applying treatmentliquid is described in WO 00/32051 A, in which seasoning liquid, forexample, is sprayed onto the surface of the slaughtered animal bodiesusing high-pressure application on the one hand, or, on the other handis injected with injection needles that are adjustable in theirpenetration depth, adapted to the anatomy of the slaughtered animalbody. Furthermore, in the state of the art, devices are also known forneedle-free injection of liquids into the meat from slaughtered animalbodies.

Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,230 describes a device for introducing liquidsinto cut pieces of meat, in which a rigid nozzle strip is pressed onto apiece of meat to be treated, for needle-free injection, by means oflifting and lowering it.

U.S. 5,176,071 A also describes a needle-free injection method forintroducing liquids into cut meat from slaughtered animal bodies,whereby the injection takes place on a special continuous transportdevice, by means of a needle-free high-pressure injection, using a fixednozzle strip. A contact pressure roller disposed above the nozzle stripand integrated into a special transport device brings about the directcontact of the nozzles with the meat that is absolutly required for theinjection and, at the same time, presses the cut meat to an almostuniform thickness, so that despite the injection amount that ispredetermined by the device (not continuously variable), an at leastapproximately uniform distribution of the brine concentration can beachieved.

As a result of the transport device that runs continuously during theinjection and guarantees the contact pressure force against the nozzlestrip, small lengthwise cuts are made in the pieces of meat, whichresult in continuous damage to the treated meat.

Aside from this disadvantage, continuously pressing the meat by means ofthe contact pressure roller can also result in contamination of theentire batch.

However, only pieces of meat that have been cut and are free of bonescan be treated with the technical solution proposed in U.S. Pat. No.5,176,071 A, since pieces of meat that contain bones are either notcompletely pressed onto the nozzle strip by the contact pressure roller,or can be squashed by the contact pressure roller, as in the case ofpoultry, for example, to such an extent that after the treatment, theycan no longer be sold.

The solution presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,926 A also describes amethod and a device for needle-free high-pressure injection, whereby, inconnection with a special transport device, the nozzles are pressed ontothe pre-cut pieces of meat, by means of a pivoting robot arm, fromabove, during the injection, the transport device acting as acounter-bearing.

A disadvantage of this solution, again, is that with this solution, aswell, the anatomy of pieces of meat from slaughtered animal bodies thatcontain bone, cartilage and/or a lot of connective tissue cannot betaken into consideration. All of the pieces of meat to be treated withthe aforementioned solution must always be pre-processed and cut.

The processing of pieces of meat that contain bone, cartilage and/or alot of connective tissue, for example, is not possible, in any case,using the solution presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,926 A, since thissolution results in a non-uniform, non-defined distribution of theliquid to be injected, in the meaty parts of the pieces of meat, undersuch general conditions.

Furthermore, the processing of slaughtered animal bodies is also notpossible with the aforementioned solution, since it is not possible todetermine the slaughtered weight or to vary the injection amount as afunction of the slaughtered weight.

In addition, the nozzle plate to be pressed down by the robot arm wouldeither be pressed down incompletely in the case of non-pre-cut meat or,as in the case of poultry, for example, the meat would be squashed insuch a manner that after the treatment, it could no longer be sold,whereby the injection conditions that are necessarily predetermined bythe nozzle plate would either result in a non-homogeneous distributionof the injection liquid, or would greatly contaminate the reflux, undersuch general conditions.

In DE-OS 198 25 233 C2, another method was presented, in connection witha related device, in which the liquid to be injected can be injectedinto the meat from slaughtered animal bodies, with one or more nozzles,as a full jet having a diameter of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm, at a jet impactforce of 0.5 N to 18 N, over a time period from 0.1 seconds to 0.8seconds, either once or repeatedly, at one or more point-shapedlocations on the surface, whereby massaging or jogging of the treatedpieces of meat takes place before and/or between and/or after theinjection process.

In this connection, the full jet of liquid injected according to DE-OS198 25 233 penetrates into the meat in such a manner that because of itsjet impact force, distribution in the tissue structure and therefore alarge-volume spread in the form of a spread cloud takes place. Becauseof a continuous change of the position of the meat relative to thenozzle, which is caused by the device, a multi-dimensional injection atthe most varied locations of the pieces of meat is furthermore carriedout, resulting in a high degree of saturation of the meat, so that evenlarger amounts of brine can be injected using one or more of the nozzlesdescribed in DE-OS 198 25 233, in partial amounts, in each instance.

This solution is excellently suited for use in connection with theproduction of boiled ham, for example.

A disadvantage of this solution described in DE-OS 198 25 233 C2,however, is that a regional accumulation of brine can take place in thepiece of meat to be processed, according to the rules of statisticaldistribution.

In this connection, the pieces of meat to be treated in the devicepreviously described in DE-OS 198 25 233 C2, are massaged or joggedoptionally before but always after the injection according to theinvention, until the amount of liquid previously calculated for theamount of meat is contained in the meat with a statistical distribution.

No consideration of the anatomy of the slaughtered animal body, forexample of a chicken, can be taken with this solution.

Also, in the case of processing chickens, for example, using theaforementioned solution, a relative movement takes place between theanimal and the nozzle during the injection, which results in severedamage to the surface of the meat, as a result of the clearly lowerspecific weight.

The machine structure also allows only a discontinuous process, and nocontinuous injection as in the case of a transport belt, for example.

The invention is therefore based on the task of developing a device anda method for introducing liquids into meat, which eliminates theaforementioned disadvantages of the state of the art and makes itpossible to introduce, even simultaneously introduce water, brines,stabilizers, seasoning liquids and/or other liquids even into meat thatcontains bones and/or cartilage or connective tissue, such as intoslaughtered animal bodies of poultry, for example, but also into legsand belly meat, in highly effective manner, with a robust structure, atgreat reliability, within a very short period of time, on almost anyexisting transport device, even on a slaughtering conveyor belt, inneedle-free manner, adapted to the anatomy of the slaughtered animalbody, in precisely defined, even very small amounts, at a minimizedinjection amount tolerance.

According to the invention, this task is accomplished by means of amethod for introducing liquids into meat, according to claim 9, inconnection with a device according to the invention, for introducingliquid into meat, according to claim 1, which is disposed on a baseframe.

The device can work together with an existing transport device (2) formeat from slaughtered animal bodies (12) that contains bones and/orcartilage or connective tissue, which is independent of the deviceaccording to the invention.

One or more machine frame(s) (3) on which an injection device (6) forneedle-free injection is disposed, is/are attached to the base frame (1)of the device.

It is essential to the invention that the injection device (6) consistsof several nozzle pipes (7), which are arranged on the machine frame (3), are adapted to the anatomy of the meat part, and can be lead up to anend position limiter (9) , one or several spray nozzles being arrangedon the nozzle pipes and surrounding the meat piece during the injectionin a clamp-like manner.

A prerequisite for the use of the simplest embodiment of the solutionaccording to the invention, with (a) machine frame(s) rigidly disposedon the base frame (1), is that the transport device (2) is cycled, i.e.stops during the injection process.

However, it is also advantageous that the machine frame(s) (3) aredisposed on the base frame (1) in movable manner.

By means of the use of one or more movable machine frame(s) (3), it ispossible to control their drive, in accordance with the state of theart, in such a manner that the frame(s) move synchronously with thetransport device (2), part of the time. Therefore, the relative velocitythat is essential to the invention can always be maintained between thetransport belt and the injection device (6) that is in use, during theinjection. By means of the use of several such machine frames (3) thatare synchronously movable with the transport device (2), the deviceaccording to the invention can be adapted to any desired speed of thetransport device (2) . It is also advantageous that the nozzle pipes (7)with the specially oriented spray nozzles (8) disposed on them areprecisely adapted to the anatomy, in each instance, for example legs ofmeat, poultry, etc., and thereby result in a defined “stop”.

The device according to the invention also makes it possible, by meansof the use of several liquid distributor systems (5) that can be usedaccording to the invention, to introduce both low-viscosity andhigh-viscosity brines into the meat that contains bones and is to beprocessed, in defined manner.

As a result of the three-dimensional arrangement of the spray nozzles(8) according to the invention, each point of the surface of theslaughtered animal body can furthermore itself be approached withdifferent injection fluids, in defined manner, so that in the case of achicken, for example, a lower-salt brine is injected more deeply in theregion of the legs, and a higher-salt brine is injected not as deeply inthe region of the back, whereby not only salt brines at differentconcentrations but also seasoning liquids, such as ketchup ormayonnaise, can simultaneously be introduced into the meat of theslaughtered animal bodies that contains bones, at a volume tolerance ofthe total amount of liquid injected into an individual piece ofapproximately 2% of the raw weight.

It is essential that the transport device is a transport belt or aslaughtering conveyor belt. The placement of the device according to theinvention on a slaughtering conveyor belt has the advantage, as comparedwith the placement in a transport belt, that the treatment can takeplace at the earliest possible point in time post mortem, on the onehand, and that no additional logistics are required in the technologicalsequence of steps, on the other hand, so that the original process speedcan immediately be utilized for the further processing and preservationof the freshly slaughtered meat that contains bones, whereby asignificant savings in working time is achieved as compared with theplacement of the device according to the invention on a transport belt.

On a transport belt, in contrast, the pieces of meat that contain bonesand are to be processed must first be positioned, in a separate workstep.

It is furthermore characteristic that the injection device (6) isprovided with end position limiters (9), so that squashing of thepoultry body, for example, is avoided.

It is another essential characteristic of the invention that similarand/or different spray nozzles (8) are disposed on a nozzle pipe (7). Inthis way, the injection depth, on the one hand, but also the injectionamount can be varied and/or adapted to different viscosities of theinjection liquid, while the injection time remains the same, forexample.

It is also in accordance with the invention that several injectiondevices (4) are rigidly connected with one another on a movable machineframe (3). In this way, the speed of the transport device can beincreased, for example, while the number of movable machine frames (3)remains the same, and thus the throughput of the entire system can beincreased.

It is furthermore characteristic that several movable machine frames (3)having injection devices (4) are disposed on a base frame (1). Thissolution according to the invention particularly allows an increase inthe reliability of the entire system, while simultaneously optimizingthe production costs, since the masses to be accelerated in the recoverymovement of the machine frames (3) can be optimized, particularly athigh speeds of the transport device (2).

It is furthermore essential to the invention that each injection device(6) can be provided with one or more movably disposed injection lance(s)(10), which move(s) into the abdominal cavity of the animal inconnection with the processing of poultry. This/these special injectionlance(s) (10) serve(s) to disinfect or season the abdominal cavity ofthe animal.

The pieces of meat are transported in the transport device (2) hangingvertically, set up vertically, set up horizontally, or placed into amatrix, so that a precise fixation of position relative to the injectiondevice(s) (6) is always guaranteed. The method according to theinvention is characterized in that each of the nozzle pipes (7) can havesame-type or different liquids applied to them separately, over the sameand/or different precisely defined periods of time, at the same and/ordifferent precisely defined pressure. This makes it possible tooptimally inject injection liquids, even different ones, in differentinjection amounts, calculated in advance on the basis of the amount ofactive substance for the piece of meat that contains bones, for example,as a result of controlling the injection time and injection pressure bymeans of the device according to the invention, in precise,reproducible, and reliable manner.

However, the method according to the invention is also characterized inthat if needed, the injection lance(s) (6) is/are impacted with the sameor different precisely defined pressure, over the same or differentprecisely defined periods of time, so that in the case of poultryprocessing, similar/different liquids (even in different amounts) can beoptimally sprayed in the abdominal cavity of the animal, precisely,reproducibly, in order to disinfect and/or season the abdominal cavityof the animal in defined manner.

It is also essential that specific, recurring food geometries such aslegs of meat, poultry, etc., can be processed highly effectively and intargeted manner, by means of the nozzle pipes (7) that are preciselyadapted to the anatomy, in each instance, with the specially orientedspray nozzles (8) that are disposed on them, on the basis of a jetimpact force that is precisely coordinated with the liquid to beinjected and the penetration depth to be achieved, and an injection timethat is coordinated with the injection depth, in this connection, takingthe nozzle size into consideration, so that disinfecting and/orseasoning that is adapted to the anatomy of the piece of meat thatcontains bones, in each instance, can be guaranteed at a high andparticularly uniform product quality, with a minimal injection amounttolerance.

By means of the simultaneous control of several nozzle pipes atdifferent operating pressure and with different injection fluids, whichis possible according to the invention, gentle processing, with optimalutilization of the tissue structure and bone structure, in eachinstance, coordinated with the slaughtered animal body to be processed,in each instance, can be guaranteed in connection with the use ofdifferent spray nozzles on a nozzle pipe that is possible according tothe invention.

This reliable, highly effective, precisely reproducible injection of themeat that contains bones is the basis for a high and uniform productquality, whereby the loss of liquid that occurs during the cooling offresh meat, for example, can actually be equalized in defined manner.

It is also characteristic that several movable machine frames (3) havinginjection devices (6) are used with a time offset, as a function of thespeed of the transport device, in each instance.

It is also in accordance with the invention that the pieces of meat areweighed before the needle-free injection, in order to always guarantee aprecise injection amount with reference to the raw weight.

However, it is always characteristic that the machine frames (3) withthe injection devices (6) that are in the injection phase have therelative velocity “0” relative to the transport belt (2) . In this way,damage to the slaughtered animal body that contains bones is avoided.

It is also essential to the invention that the viscosity of the liquidto be processed is between 1 mPas and 10,000 mPas. By means of themethod according to the invention, it is also possible, for example, toinject minerals, acidic, basic, aromatic substances, carbohydrates,fats, proteins, and additives such as seasonings, as well as mixtures ofthe above substance, mixed into liquids, whereby the chemical andmechanical state of the food is influenced in such a manner that it isstabilized against bacteriological infection and/or bacteriologicalgrowth.

Furthermore, the injection of the highly viscous liquids can also serveto hold or achieve aromas, to hold tissue fluids, and/or to hold foreignfluids etc., and thus to implement stabilization of the liquid in thefinal status of the end product desired by producers.

Also, food-grade additives can be injected into chickens to be frozen,for example, which restrict the crystal growth of water, and therebycounteract a destruction of the muscle fibers that results from that.

In this connection, the device according to the invention makes itpossible for both low-viscosity and high-viscosity brines to besimultaneously introduced into the meat that contains bones and is to beprocessed, in needle-free manner, highly effectively, reliably, and indefined manner, at the different locations of the surface.

In connection with the almost all-around arrangement of the spraynozzles (8) with reference to the piece of meat that contains bones andis to be processed, which is also in accordance with the invention, theresult is achieved that the pieces of meat that contain bones and aretransported in the transport direction (2) are optimally saturated,uniformly over the entire volume, for example in the form of clouds(which can overlap one another).

Another characteristic of the invention consists in the fact that thetemperature of the liquid to be processed lies between −5° C. and 150°C., so that on the one hand, even high hygiene requirements in the lowtemperature range can be met by means of the solution according to theinvention. On the other hand, even fats can be injected in the liquidstate, by means of the solution according to the invention.

Other characteristics, details, and advantages of the invention arefurthermore evident from the following explanations concerning theexemplary embodiments, in connection with the related drawings, alongwith the text of the claims.

In the following, the invention will now be explained using severalexemplary embodiments, in connection with six figures.

These show:

FIG. 1: a front view of a possible construction of the device accordingto the invention, directly on a slaughtering conveyor belt, with theinjection device being open;

FIG. 2: a front view of the device according to the invention, accordingto FIG. 1, with the injection device being closed;

FIG. 3: a top view of the device according to the invention, accordingto FIG. 2, with the injection device being closed;

FIG. 4: the device according to the invention, according to FIG. 1, in aside view;

FIG. 5: a front view of another possible construction of the deviceaccording to the invention, with a slaughtered animal body that containsbones, cartilage, and connective tissue, set horizontally onto anaccommodation, with the injection device being open;

FIG. 6: a front view of another possible construction of the deviceaccording to the invention, with a slaughtered animal body that containsbones, cartilage, and connective tissue, set vertically onto anaccommodation, with the injection device being open.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a possible construction of the deviceaccording to the invention, on a slaughtering conveyor belt, with theinjection device 6 being open.

The meat from slaughtered animal bodies 12, for example poultry, isdisposed on a transport device 2, in the present case a slaughteringconveyor belt.

Below the slaughtering conveyor belt, there is the base frame 1 of thedevice according to the invention.

On this frame, two machine frames 3 that can be moved on linear guides11 are disposed like “sleds.”

On each of the movable machine frames 3, in turn, two injection devices6, in each instance, for needle-free injection are attached, fixed inplace, connected with several high-pressure systems 4 by way of severalliquid distributor systems 5.

Each of the injection devices 6 consists of seven nozzle pipes 7 thatare disposed to pivot on the machine frame 3, on which pipes severalspray nozzles 8 are disposed, in each instance.

The nozzle pipes 7 with the spray nozzles 8 specially oriented anddisposed on them are precisely adapted to the anatomy of the poultryslaughtered animal bodies to be processed.

These nozzle pipes 7, which are disposed on the machine frame so as topivot, and precisely adapted to the anatomy of the slaughtered animalbody to be processed, are connected with one another by means of adrive, in such a manner that the injection device 6, which consists ofnozzle pipes 7 with a drive, as shown in FIG. 1, opens before or afterthe injection, respectively, and does not touch the slaughtered animalbody 12. During the injection, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the nozzlepipes 7 of the injection device 6 surround the slaughtered animal body12 in the manner of tongs.

In this connection, the injection device 6 is provided with end positionlimiters 9, in order to prevent squashing of the poultry bodies.

FIG. 2 now shows a front view of the device according to the invention,according to FIG. 1, but with the injection device 6 being closed, andwith spray nozzles 8 pressed against the slaughtered animal body 12.Each injection device 6, in the present exemplary embodiment, isprovided with an injection lance 10 that is disposed so as to bevertically movable. This injection lance (10) serves to disinfect and/orseason the abdominal cavity of the slaughtered animal body 12, and movesinto the abdominal cavity of the slaughtered animal body (12) while thespray nozzles 8 are pressed on.

The machine frames 3 that are disposed on the base frame on linearguides 11, to be movable like “sleds,” are moved by way of their drive,in such a manner that synchronous running of the machine frame 3, whichis in the spray cycle, with the transport device 2, part of the time, isguaranteed during the injection.

After the injection, the nozzle pipes 7 that surround the slaughteredanimal body 12 like tongs release the slaughtered animal body 12, andthe machine frame 3 moves counter to the transport direction of theslaughtering conveyor belt, for a renewed positioning for the nextinjection procedure.

In this connection, the placement of the device according to theinvention on a slaughtering conveyor belt has the advantage, as comparedwith the placement on a transport belt, that the treatment can takeplace at the earliest possible point in time post mortem, on the onehand, and on the other hand, no additional logistics in thetechnological sequence of steps is necessary, so that the originalprocess speed can immediately be utilized for the further processing andpreservation of the freshly slaughtered meat that contains bones.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the device according to the inventionaccording to FIG. 2, with seven nozzle pipes 7 disposed on the machineframe 3. On each of these nozzle pipes 7, both similar and differentspray nozzles 8 can be disposed, in this connection.

As a result, the injection depth, on the one hand, but also theinjection amount can be varied and/or adapted to different viscositiesof the injection liquid, with the injection time remaining the same, forexample.

By means of the simultaneous use of several fluid distributor systems 5,the device according to the invention makes it possible tosimultaneously introduce both low-viscosity and high-viscosity brinesinto the meat that contains bones and is to be processed, in definedmanner.

As a result of the spatial arrangement of the spray nozzles 8, everyselected point of the surface of the slaughtered animal body 12 can beapproached in defined manner, even with different injection liquids, sothat a volume tolerance of the injected amount of liquid for anindividual piece, at approximately 2% of the raw weight, can beguaranteed.

In FIG. 4, the device according to the invention according to FIG. 1 isshown in a side view.

The base frame 1 of the device according to the invention is disposed onthe slaughtering conveyor belt, a possible embodiment of the transportdevice 2; two machine frames 3 are disposed to move on linear guides 11,on the base frame.

Again, two injection devices 6 for needle-free injection, connected withseveral high-pressure systems by way of several liquid distributorsystems, are disposed on each of the two movable machine frames 3.

By means of the use of several machine frames 3, preferably havingseveral injection devices 6, which frames can be moved synchronously andsimultaneously with the transport device 2, part of the time, the deviceaccording to the invention can also be adapted to higher speeds of theslaughtering conveyor belt, the transport device 2, so that during theinjection, the relative velocity “0” is always guaranteed between theslaughtering conveyor belt and the injection device 6 that is in use.

FIG. 5 now shows a front view of another possible construction of thedevice according to the invention, with a slaughtered animal body thatcontains bones, cartilage, and connective tissue, set horizontally ontoan accommodation of a transport device 2, with the injection devicebeing open.

Again, the base frame 1 of the device according to the invention isdisposed on the transport device 2 with several movable machine frames 3(as already described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 4).

In this exemplary embodiment, as well, an injection lance 10 and theinjection devices 6 according to the invention are disposed on thesemovable machine frames 3, with the supply lines for the liquiddistributor systems 5, for needle-free injection.

In the present exemplary embodiment, each injection device 6 againconsists of several nozzle pipes 7 provided with spray nozzles 8, whichcan pivot but are disposed horizontally on the machine frame 3.

By means of the arrangement of the slaughtered animal bodies 12horizontally on the accommodation of a transport device 2, a precisefixation of position of the slaughtered animal bodies 12 relative to theinjection devices 6 is guaranteed.

This device according to the invention also makes it possible, by meansof the use of several liquid distributor systems 6, once again, tosimultaneously introduce both low-viscosity and high-viscosity brinesinto the meat that contains bones and is to be processed, in definedmanner.

FIG. 6 shows a front view of another possible construction of the deviceaccording to the invention, with a slaughtered animal body 12 thatcontains bones, cartilage, and connective tissue, set vertically onto anaccommodation of a transport device 2, with the injection device 6 beingopen.

Again, the base frame 1 of the device according to the invention isdisposed on the transport device 2 with several movable machine frames 3(as described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 4).

In this exemplary embodiment, the injection devices 6 for needle freeinjection are disposed on the movable machine frames “hanging”vertically. Each of the injection devices 6 consists of several nozzlepipes 7 that are disposed to pivot vertically on the machine frame 3,and again, several spray nozzles 8 are disposed on the pipes. In thisembodiment, too, an injection lance 10 is disposed on the injectiondevice.

Again, by means of the placement of the slaughtered animal bodies 12vertically on an accommodation of a transport device 2, a precisefixation of the position of the pieces of meat that contain bones andare to be processed, relative to the injection devices 6, is guaranteed.

In connection with the use of several machine frames 3, preferablyhaving several injection devices 6, that can be synchronously movedsimultaneously with the transport device 2, part of the time, thisembodiment of the device according to the invention can also be adaptedto every speed of a continuously operating transport device 2, so thatthe relative velocity “0” is always guaranteed between the transportdevice 2 and the injection device 6, during the injection.

This device according to the invention also makes it possible, by meansof the use of several liquid distributor systems 5, to simultaneouslyintroduce both low-viscosity and high-viscosity liquids into the meatthat contains bones, cartilage, and connective tissue, in definedmanner.

On the basis of the present solution according to the invention, it hastherefore been possible to develop a device and a method for introducingliquid into meat, which makes it possible to introduce, evensimultaneously introduce water, brines, stabilizers, seasoning liquidsand/or other liquids even into meat that contains bones and/or cartilageor connective tissue, such as into slaughtered animal bodies of poultry,for example, but also into legs and belly meat, in highly effectivemanner, with a robust structure, at great reliability, within a veryshort period of time, on almost any existing transport device, even on aslaughtering conveyor belt, in needle-free manner, adapted to theanatomy of the slaughtered animal body, in precisely defined, even verysmall amounts, at a minimized injection amount tolerance.

1. A device for introducing liquids into a piece of meat having aparticular anatomy comprising: (a) a base frame; (b) at least onemachine frame disposed on said base frame for cooperation with atransport device; (c) an injection device for needle-free injectioncomprising a plurality of nozzle pipes disposed on said at least onemachine frame, an end position limiter, and a feed line movable up tosaid end position limiter, said nozzle pipes being adapted to theanatomy of the piece of meat and surrounding the piece of meat liketongs during the injection; (d) a high-pressure system; (e) a liquiddistributor system connecting said injection device with saidhigh-pressure system; and (f) a plurality of spray nozzles disposed onsaid nozzle pipes; wherein each nozzle pipe is separately impacted withsimilar or different liquids over identical or different preciselydefined periods of time with an identical or different precisely definedpressure.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the transportdevice is a transport belt or a slaughtering conveyor belt.
 3. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein several injection devices forneedle-free injection are disposed on the at least one machine frame andare connected with several high-pressure systems by way of severalliquid distributor systems.
 4. The device according to claim 1, whereinsimilar or different spray nozzles are disposed on a nozzel pipe.
 5. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein several injection devices arerigidly connected with one another on a movable machine frame.
 6. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein several movable machine frameshaving injection devices are disposed on a base frame.
 7. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein, the injection device is provided with atleast one movably disposed injection lance movable into an abdominalcavity of the piece of meat.
 8. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe piece of meat is transported in the transport device hangingvertically, set up vertically, set up horizontally, or placed into amatrix.
 9. A method f or introducing liquids into meat comprising; (a)providing a device comprising a base frame, at least one machine framedisposed on the base frame for cooperation with a transport device, aninjection device for needle-free injection comprising a pluraltiy ofnozzle pipes disposed on the at least one machine frame, an end positionlimiter, and a feed line movable up to the end position limiter, thenozzle pipes being adapted to the anatomy of the piece of meat andsurrounding the piece of meat like tongs during the injection, ahigh-pressure system, a liquid distributor system connecting theinjection device with the high-pressure system, and a plurality of spraynozzles disposed on the nozzle pipes; and (b) using the device tointroduce the liquids into the meat; wherein each nozzle pipe isseparately impacted with similar or different liquids over identical ordifferent precisely defined periods of time with an identical ordifferent precisely defined pressure.
 10. The method according to claim9, wherein the injection device further comprises a plurality of movablydisposed injection lances and the injection lances are also separatelyimpacted with liquids over identical or different precisely definedperiods of time, with identical or different precisely defined pressure.11. Method The method according to claim 9, wherein several movablemachine frames having injection devices are utilized with a time offset.12. Method The method according to claim 9, wherein the meat is weighedbefore the needle-free injection.
 13. The method according to claim 9,wherein the device has a plurality of machine frames and a plurality ofinjection devices and the machine frames with the injection devices thatare in an injection phase have a relative velocity “0” relative to thetransport belt.
 14. The method according to claim 9, wherein the liquidshave a viscosity between 1 mPas and 10,000 mPas.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the liquids have a temperature between −5°C. and 150° C.